1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a cooking pan for cooking pancakes and eggs on a conventional stove burner and specifically, to a pancake or egg pan in which the pan can be rotated 180 degrees during the cooking process such that the resultant food product can be easily served from the pan. Different foods, such as pancakes and eggs, can be cooked simultaneously in an alternate embodiment.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The cooking of liquid food products (such as pancakes and eggs) that start from a liquid batter and subsequently solidify during the cooking process traditionally require that during the cooking process, the cook use a hand-held spatula, that must be inserted carefully between the partially cooked food to turn over the food product so that the food can be cooked on both sides. Cooking pancakes or eggs requires constant monitoring of the pancake or egg liquid and some agility on the part of the cook in turning over the food with a spatula.
The second step required for cooking pancakes or eggs is that once the cooking is complete, the food product must be carefully removed with a spatula from the concave pan. Typically the spatula is manipulated under the food product, and carefully lifted out of the pan for deposit on a plate for serving. Often the food product is much larger than the spatula, providing an opportunity for the food product to break apart during transfer. Because of the concave nature of typical cooking pans, the cook must insert a spatula below the cooked material and carefully remove the material from the pan by moving the food over the concave side of the pan for serving the food. Often the pancake or egg is broken apart by the act of serving.
It is most important to have a high-quality cooking pan in which heat is transferred uniformly throughout the conductive heat surface. The use of iron skillets, aluminum, or copper pans is well known in the cooking of pancakes or eggs. Newer pans often include a non-slip coating on the top surface of the metal pan known under the trademark of Teflon. The pan cooking surfaces are coated to prevent sticking of eggs or pancake batter to the pan.
The prior art discloses several different approaches to the uniform cooking of pancakes, griddlecakes or eggs with an attempt to alleviate human intervention with a hand-held spatula to aid in the cooking process. U.S. Pat. No. 740,050 issued to Shults on Sep. 29, 1903 shows a griddle that includes two opposing concave cooking surfaces, hinged together on one side, with a pair of handles issuing from each concave cooking surface. Using this device, the cook lifts the pan, rotates and turns the food and uses the opposing pan to complete the cooking without the use of a hand-held spatula. One of the problems with this device is that both of the cooking surfaces are concave in nature so that one would still require a hand-held spatula to remove and serve the cooked product. U.S. Pat. No. 4,176,593 issued to Terzian issued on Dec. 4, 1979 shows a cooking device that has a self-contained heating unit (not a conventional stove burner) and a pair of concave cooking surfaces that are hinged together in which two pans are partially filled with egg batter or pancake mix and after an initial period, one half of the egg is turned on to the other half by rotating the pan about a central hinge. Again, both pans are concave and require a spatula for removing the cooked food product. U.S. Des. Pat. No. 119,081 issued on Feb. 20, 1940 to Weststrang shows a design patent for a cooking utensil with a pair of handles that include two concave cooking surfaces that are connected together, which apparently can be rotated. Again, both cooking surfaces are concave. U.S. Des. Pat. No. 276,971 issued Jan. 1, 1985 to Potts shows a skillet that includes two concave cooking surfaces joined together by a hinge with a pair of handles that are rectangular in shape. U.S. Pat. No. 1,987,594 issued Jan. 15, 1935 to Chiles, et al shows a reversible frying pan that also includes dividers for dividing foodstuff within the pan. Both halves of the cooking surface are concave so that the foodstuff must be removed carefully with a hand-held implement. U.S. Pat. No. 5,642,659 issued Jul. 1, 1997 to Sesona, et al shows a pancake and egg cooker that is self contained that includes a removable cooking concave surface that has a mold that has words embedded for making decorative designs in pancakes or eggs. The entire unit is self-contained and self heated and is not used on a stove.
The present invention overcomes the problems of the prior art by providing a cooking pan for cooking pancakes, eggs and other food articles that require turning over during cooking and that begin as a liquid and firm up to be a solid or partial solid when the cooking process has been completed.
The present invention provides for two heat-conductive cooking surfaces; one concave and the other flat; hinged together and having separate handles. The initial liquid is poured into the concave cooking surface. Once the cooked material solidifies sufficiently, the entire pan can be flipped 180 degrees. The cooked material now rests on the flat cooking surface until cooking is complete. The cooked food can than easily be removed and transferred to a plate by gravity without having to use a spatula.
In an alternate embodiment the pan bottom can include three separate concave pancake or egg walls to cook three pancakes at one time.
A cooking pan for cooking pancakes, eggs, or other liquid foods that can be solidified and that require turning over during the cooking process, comprising a concave heat conductive container having a cooking surface that includes a protective non-stick coating on the concave cooking surface portion, a grasping handle connected to one edge of the concave cooking container at a predetermined location, a substantially flat, thin, heat-conductive body having a flat cooking surface attached by a pivotal hinge to the concave cooking container and sized in diameter to be approximately the same size as the concave cooking container and a second handle attached to said flat, heat-conductive cooking body. Both handles are made of a thermal insulating material and when the cooking unit is closed together, the handles are aligned together so that both handles can be grasped in one hand.
The cooking pan can be positioned in two modes, open and closed. The open mode has the concave container resting initially in the lower position, and the flat, disked shaped body hingeably positioned and open at least 90 degrees above the concave container. In this position, the foodstuff in liquid form would be poured into the concave container. The upper flat surface can then be closed relative to the concave container by moving the handles together in a closed position. The closed position 15 with both handles abutting each other and the concave container juxtaposed against the thin, flat body. This is the cooking position.
The concave cooking container is made of a uniform heat conductive material such as aluminum and shaped as a shallow, concave body with a central, circular area portion that is flat for resting on a stove burner. The container shape is circular and is sized to fit on a conventional burner on a stove burner that can be either gas or electric. The diameter of the concave cooking container depends on the size of the food product desired and can be manufactured in different sizes from small to large depending on the cooking environment required, whether at home or commercially. Some stoves have burners that are both large and small in diameter.
The flat cooking body is disk-shaped, flat and has a diameter that is substantially the same as that of the concave cooking container. The hinged joints are such to provide an opening between the concave surface and the flat surface when the two cooking surfaces are closed together. There can be approximately a one to two inch separation between the concave cooking surface base interior portion and the center of the flat cooking surface to see the food article while cooking.
Both pan cooking surfaces (concave and flat) employ a nonstick type of surface material (Teflon) on the outer layer (cooking portion) of the conductive metal such as aluminum, so that cooked food will not stick to either side of the pan.
To operate the invention, the pan is opened and the two cooking surfaces are separated with the two handles. The concave cooking body is placed upon the heating element of the stove. Liquid foodstuff such as pancake batter or an egg is added to the concave cooking container. The other half of the cooking pan is then rotated so that the handles are together and parallel. The flat cooking body is now on top and directly above the concave cooking container in a closed position. When sufficient cooking of the food has occurred, the cook rotates the cooking pan 180 degrees, grasping both handles together, placing the flat cooking container directly on the burner. The concave cooking container is now on top. Additional cooking may be accomplished but since the foodstuff has solidified during the initial cooking process, no liquid is ejected from the cooking utensil. Once the cooking process is complete, the upper cooking handle is then raised, exposing the cooked food resting on the flat body. The pan can be tilted, allowing the food product to slide off of the flat surface by gravity, eliminating the need for a spatula.
In an alternate embodiment, the pan hinge can include a separation spring to hold the upper flat surface and upper handle slightly above and away from the lower cooking pan to allow steal and moisture to escape during cooking. The handles can be manually squeezed together against the spray tension to cause contact between the upper flat surface and the pan during rotation of the pan.
In another alternate embodiment, the pan includes three separate concave cooking wells to permit cooking three pancakes or eggs or any combination simultaneously.
It is an object of this invention to provide an improved cooking pan, especially for liquids such as pancake batter or eggs that eliminates the use of spatulas during cooking and serving.
It is another object of this invention to provide a cooking pan for pancakes or eggs that at the completion of the cooking operation, the cooked foodstuff can slide from the pan without the use of hand-held spatulas.
It is another object of this invention to provide a cooking pan capable of cooking three separate or three individual items of the same foods simultaneously.